Almost all the top Indian apps are deploying deceptive design practices which impact user autonomy and informed decision-making by users, a study released on Thursday said.

The study by the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) found that 52 of the top 53 apps have deceptive UI (user interface)/UX (user experience) practices that can mislead or trick users into doing something they originally did not intend or want to do.

Executed in collaboration with design firm Parallel HQ, the study said that these problematic apps have been downloaded 21 billion times and flagged the impact on consumer behaviour because of such practices.

The deceptive patterns discovered include privacy deception, interface interference, drip pricing, and false urgency, an official statement issued by the advertising industry's self-regulatory body said.

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Privacy deception emerged as the most prevalent deceptive pattern, observed in 79% of the apps analysed, followed by interface interference (45%), drip pricing (43%), and false urgency (32%).

Elaborating with examples, the study said all the e-commerce apps studied made it difficult for users to delete their accounts, while a bulk four of the five health-tech apps relied on creating time-based pressure or a false urgency to rush users into making decisions.

Health-tech led the list of sectors where deceptive patterns are the highest, followed by travel booking and e-commerce, as per the study. Interestingly, the deceptive patterns per app were lowest in gaming and streaming services.

"Deceptive patterns harm consumer trust and transparency in the digital ecosystem. We urge organisations to follow conscious design principles that protect the consumer's right to make an informed choice," ASCI's secretary general and chief executive Manisha Kapoor said.